Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Wang Slides Back

There was little to know doubt that game two of this series would go the Sox. Even when Wang has been at the top of his game he has had little to no effect against the Red Sox, especially in Fenway. I think even the Yankees knew that coming into the game, but what I'm sure they didn't expect was to perform so poorly against Tim Wakefield.

The most disappointing part of the Yankees batting against Wakefield was their hacking. They lacked any real discipline against the knuckleball and it cost them. Seven of their 28 plate appearances against Wakefield ended after one pitch with only one of those swings resulting in a hit.

Sure they scored a few runs, but this is Tim Wakefield we are talking about. With the offense the Yankees have they have absolutely no business hacking at the first pitch of that many at bats. That's pathetic.

But still Wang deserves some blame. You have to believe that this is now something that's in his head. If he isn't walking people then he is serving up meatballs. If you're Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi, it's really hard to send him out there again in five days. Phil Hughes wasn't lights out during his 3.2 innings, but he was sure as hell better than Wang.

The Yankees want to get Wang right, and really that would be the best thing for the team. But they also need to win games, and right now Hughes gives them a better chance to win every five days than does Wang.

Tonight it is CC Sabathia vs. Brad Penny. The pressure will be on CC in a game the Yankees absolutely need, simply so they don't have to carry 0-8 around until August. On paper it is the best match up they have had all series, and though Penny is no slouch right now, the bats need to wake up and get the job done. They were 2-15 with RISP. That won't win games against anybody.

6 comments:

I fully expected the Yankees to handle Wake as they normally do. The only one who handled him, and the rest of the Sox staff, was Teixeira, who has much less familiarity with Wake. It's hard to know what they were thinking about.

The Yankees came back one might expect. Only a fool would think that it was over at 6-2 with 4-5 innings to play

Wang does look bad. I thought he was going to become one of the elite pitchers in the game a couple of years ago.

According to Colin Cowheard a team's success really rests on just three people. Your Number 1 and 2 starters and your closer. The Sox have Beckett, Lester, and Papelbon. The Yankees have CC, ???, and Rivera. Here lies the problem. They don't have a solid 2 who will give them +7 wins (i.e. 15-8) throughout the season and win 4 or 5 playoff starts. They thought Burnett would be the #2 guy and if he wasn't, Wang could be #2. Neither has stepped up.

thats a somewhat decent point but Burnett is gonna win more than 8 games. He hasnt been that bad, and Pettitte already has 6 wins. Whether or not Burnett or Pettitte will be lights out in the playoffs is questionable but here's a fact for Colin.

Yankees: 0-7 v Sox; 34-18 v everyone else.

Red Sox: 7-0 v. Yanks; 28-24 v. everyone else.

So yea 0-7 v Boston is bad, but they wont lose all 18 games and so far the Yankees have been the better team outside the rivalry. They can also win on the road.

I like Colin but sometimes he gets over his head and should stick to football.